5 Groom Place and stable yard

5 Groom Place and Stable Yard

This former stable block, groom's accommodation, coach house, clock tower and stable yard served Seaford House. It was built to the designs of Philip Hardwick for Charles Molyneux, 3rd Earl of Sefton between 1842 and 1846. The interior of 5 Groom Place has been substantially remodelled from the mid-to-late 20th century onwards.

The building is constructed of red brick walls, rendered at the west elevation, beneath slate-covered roofs.

The plan forms a cranked range enclosing the former stable yard, attached at its west end to the rear of Seaford House and to the former coach house and garage to the south-east. A clock tower stands at the north-east corner facing the yard. The interior layout originally comprised former stables at ground floor with staff accommodation and hay lofts on the floors above, generally one room deep with a corridor facing the yard. All of this has now been converted to classroom space and modern facilities.

The building rises to two and three storeys, with a single storey coach house to the south. The yard-facing west elevation is rendered across all ranges with flat storey bands, and the former stable openings at ground floor are partially blocked or have been remodelled with late 20th-century inserted doors. The east elevation facing Groom Place has exposed red brick. Windows throughout are a mix of sash and casements in openings with shallow segmental heads, with a number being late 20th-century replacements.

A two-bay, two-storey link to Seaford House occupies the north side of the yard, topped with a hipped roof. The first floor of its north elevation has multi-pane windows, whilst the ground floor is obscured by the lantern over the basement kitchen. The south yard-facing elevation at ground floor contains a blocked stable entrance with a high two-light window to the west and two windows at first floor. To the east stands the clock tower, which rises three storeys. At ground floor is the entrance to a winding stair with single lights at each floor above. The upper storey housing the clock mechanism projects over the roofs and is crowned with a domed cap and finial. The clock face is oriented south-west so it can be observed from the house.

Attached to the south is a cranked, three-storey range of five bays under a hipped roof with a parapet. The east rear elevation facing Groom Place has exposed red brick laid in Flemish bond, although the brick at the third storey is yellow stock, suggesting some degree of rebuilding. At the north end is an inserted vehicular opening of apparent mid-20th-century date. Off-centre is the former arched carriage entrance with double doors, and above at first floor is a possible former taking-in door partially infilled to create a window.

The former coach house attached to the south-east is rendered with a plain frieze and moulded cornice beneath a shallow slate-covered hipped roof. Its north elevation has double doors with a strip of lights above. The west elevation features a central arched blocked entrance flanked by two arched openings containing sash windows with bars to the front. The south elevation contains a partially blocked arched opening with a modern window. A wall with railings extends eastward from the north end.

Interior features have been subject to successive remodelling from the mid-20th century onwards. Late 19th-century stairs and some fireplaces remain in the eastern range, and the winding stair survives in the clock tower; the clock mechanism was not inspected. Apart from these surviving features, the interiors of 5 Groom Place are of lesser interest. The coach house interior was not inspected.

The stable yard between 5 Groom Place and Seaford House comprises granite setts.

The listing does not include the east wall of Seaford House, which is covered separately.